I’m hard at work on a new story. This one has taken me a while to figure out, and I thought I’d share with you its tale.
The new story has had a couple of names in its short existence. At first, it was “What Mrs. Bennet Heard.” That was a great title for the bunny that started the project, but it wasn’t descriptive of the entire story. Then, it became, “Unnamed New Story.” Terribly unimaginative but also incredibly apt. So, I began asking for suggestions.
One of my patronesses at Patreon suggested “Darcy’s Dilemma” or “Caroline’s Frustration.” Both are good, but I remembered that there’s another book titled Darcy’s Dilemma, and if I put Caro’s name on the cover, it won’t sell because people will think it’s about her and not Darcy and Elizabeth. So, I took Darcy’s Dilemma and changed it up.
I got out my trusty thesaurus and looked up synonyms for “dilemma.” The one that most closely matched what I wanted to convey was “predicament,” so the book has become Darcy’s Predicament.
I had a title, but at that point, I still only had a scene written off a plot bunny. I needed more story. I’ve said before that I’m trying to learn plotting.
I’ve been shown how to use a couple different organizers, and I believe I have shown them to you in the past, so I’ll just leave it at that for now. I have not yet mastered any of them, though. I was able, independently (if you’re a teacher, especially a special ed teacher, you understand my terminology and why I used it LOL,) to list events I wished to happen in the story, but I had no clue how to organize them. I turned to my friends.
Now, I have to tell you that my friends and I have been going through some ups and downs in our individual lives and I feel guilty now adding to their burdens by begging for assistance. Especially when they are things I should know. However, one of them took pity on me and helped me organize the story events in a way that made sense. So, now I have what passes for an outline in my world. LOL
Rather than an actual outline, what I currently have is a list of events. It’s divided into three acts with three to eight items in each. It’s really rather impressive. LOL I think it will be helpful to me to print out a three-act structure graphic organizer and insert the items into it. I clearly need much more practice. 😀
Now that I have my ducks in a row with this plot, I think I can make good progress on the book. I will not give you a date for publication, because every time I do, I miss the date. It is far better for all of us if I just put my head down and write and let you know when I’m done.
If you’re interested in reading the first parts of the story, they can be found in the Thursday’s 300 section of my blog. I’ll post excerpts every Thursday there, and will give my patrons at Patreon full chapters, probably daily as I write them.
When the story is complete, I’ll have a giveaway post, so keep your eyes open for it!
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